


Everything Will Change, But Love Remains the Same

by bscgirl99



Category: Nancy Drew (TV 2019)
Genre: Ace/Nancy Fall Drabblefest 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27552739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bscgirl99/pseuds/bscgirl99
Summary: Written for the @aceandnancy Fall Drabblefest on Tumblr, an AU where the Drew Crew are all friends in high school and go to their sophomore year homecoming dance together.
Relationships: Ace & Nancy Drew, Ace/Nancy Drew, George Fayne/Ned Nickerson, Lisbeth/Bess Marvin
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	Everything Will Change, But Love Remains the Same

**Author's Note:**

> \- Prompt used: Ace and Nancy dance.  
> \- Ace is a junior and the rest of the Drew Crew are sophomores.  
> \- Title and lyrics used are from the song, "Love Remains the Same," by Gavin Rossdale.

Dances at Keene High School were lame, no matter the occasion. They were held in the gym, one of the hottest areas in school, and the music playing was often outdated. That didn’t stop everyone from going to them though. Like any other high school, going to dances was a social rite of passage. Even Nancy Drew, who was more interested in working on the yearbook and solving mysteries was at tonight’s Homecoming dance with her friends, dripping sweat as they attempted to do the Electric Slide. 

“Nick! Stop it!” George said playfully to her boyfriend, a giggle escaping her lips despite her wanting to sound uptight and George-like. Nancy looked over and saw that Nick had moved much closer to George, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and hugging her. The two of them were newly dating and still in that honeymoon/touchy-feely phase.

“But I thought you wanted to do so much PDA that the world was going to barf?” Bess teased as she and Lisbeth, who also came to the dance as a couple, moved around the two of them.

“Do we have no secrets around here?” George asked. But Nancy could see that George wasn’t nearly as irritated as she sounded. She was clearly content dancing to her own beat with Nick as others attempted to do a dance routine from the old days.

“Nancy, shouldn’t Ace be back by now?” Lisbeth asked. “Guys don’t take _that_ long in the bathroom.”

Ace was a junior who worked on the yearbook with Nancy. The two of them had become friends almost immediately when she started at Keene as a freshman and he was a sophomore. They both had that loner, creative spirit about them, but Nancy was slightly more extroverted and got Ace to come out of his shell at least a little by introducing him to George, Nick, Bess, and Lisbeth, all friends she’d made through classes. They’d all been a great group of friends ever since.

Like George and Nick, and Bess and Lisbeth, Nancy and Ace were each other’s date to homecoming. But it’d all happened quite quickly. A few weeks prior to the dance, Ace and his longtime girlfriend of a year, Laura Tandy, had broken up. Ace hadn’t even wanted to come to tonight’s dance, but Nancy and her self-proclaimed Drew Crew convinced him to go and she agreed to stand in as his date. It sounded like it would all work out, but Nancy could tell with the way Ace kept wanting to take breaks from the gym that he wasn’t enjoying himself and she hated that she couldn’t do anything to help him feel better.

“There he is!” Nick said before Nancy could answer Lisbeth. She looked up to see Ace heading towards the table where all their shoes, wraps and clutches were.

“I could use a break anyway,” Nancy said, smiling at her friends before walking over to Ace. She had to admit, he cleaned up nice. How could Laura Tandy ever walk away from him?

“Sorry, I guess I spent too much time outside,” Ace said. Nobody was allowed to leave campus until the dance ended, but they were able to step outside the gym for air.

“Well, you’re taking me back there, it’s hotter than Satan in here,” Nancy took Ace’s arm and they walked outside one of the gym’s side doors, greeted by the chilly night air. Goosebumps sprouted on her arms, but the air was amazing.

“Here,” Ace said, taking off his suit coat and wrapping it around Nancy’s shoulders. “Just in case,” he added.

Nancy looked up at Ace and smiled. “Thanks,” the jacket smelled more like Ace and less like sweat. It was nice.

“I’m sorry I’m such a crappy date,” Ace said. “I really was looking forward to being with you and hanging out with everyone tonight. I guess I just didn’t realize how hard it’d be, to be here without Laur.”

“It’s okay, don’t apologize. We should be the ones apologizing, forcing you to go to a dance while you’re in the middle of a breakup.”

“Laura managed to do so just fine,” Ace said with gritted teeth. “She was all over that guy Josh earlier.”

“So that’s why you,” Nancy said.

“Left, yes. I probably should’ve used a better excuse than the bathroom though,” Ace managed to chuckle. “You guys probably think I have a problem or something.”

“Well, Lisbeth _was_ wondering,” Nancy teased, laughing along with Ace. She put her arm around his shoulder.

“It’s going to get better, Ace,” she said. “Not today, not tomorrow. But it will.”

“Thanks, Nancy, I hope so,” Ace pulled Nancy a little closer to him for a side hug. He sighed. “I guess we should head back inside, huh?”

“I guess so,” Nancy said, suddenly wishing she could spend the rest of the night out here with Ace, and not just because it was cooler.

As Nancy and Ace got closer to the gym, they heard the first notes of a slow song. Nancy watched as everyone in the crowd paired up to dance. She glanced over at Ace. Slow songs were another trigger, and she was wondering if he’d want to step out again.

_A thousand times I've seen you standing_

_Gravity like a lunar landing_

_You make me wanna run till I find you_

But what Ace said next surprised her. “You wanna dance?”

“I…” Nancy trailed off, her throat suddenly drying up. “Yeah, but are you sure you want to do this?”

“Nancy,” Ace said teasingly. “Yes. I’m your date and it’s time I act like it. Let me make it up to you for everything I did tonight.”

“Okay,” Nancy relented as they took each other’s hands and joined the rest of their classmates and friends in the gym.

_Drink, to all that we have lost_

_Mistakes we have made_

_Everything will change_

_But, love remains the same_

Nancy had never slow danced with Ace before because he was always occupied with Laura at other dances. Again, she wondered why Laura would ever leave Ace. He was quite the smooth dancer, and his arms were resting nicely around Nancy’s waist. She wrapped her arms around Ace’s shoulders and tried to keep her gaze on him, even though the way he was holding her and looking at her was making her feel unusually shy. She also felt herself blushing, though that could’ve been from the warmth of the gym. What was going on with her tonight?

“Well, look who joined the party finally,” a voice broke in, interrupting Nancy’s thoughts. She turned to see George looking at the two of them, her head resting on Nick’s shoulder.

“I couldn’t stay away for too long,” Ace joked.

A gasp came from nearby. That turned out to be Bess, who was beaming. Apparently, she was quite happy to see Nancy and Ace dancing together.

“You two are adorable,” she gushed, as if she were one of their parents.

“Uh, thanks?” Ace laughed. Nancy felt herself blush again. Lisbeth, who was dancing with Bess, just smiled and shrugged.

“Sorry,” Nancy said. “Bess for some reason has always shipped us. I guess she isn’t entertained enough with the ships on TV.”

“It’s okay, it’s very Bess,” Ace smiled and pulled Nancy even closer to him. “Besides, who knows what the future will bring?”

“Who knows,” Nancy echoed, slowly leaning her head on Ace’s shoulder.

_I, oh I, I wish this could last forever…_


End file.
